Refrigerator construction



Aug.f20,'19 63 M. L. PUGH- 3,101,227

' REFRIGERATOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 1. 1960 5 She ets-Sheet i IN VENT 0R.

ATTORNEYS.

7 M. PU'GH REFRIGERATOR CONSTRUCTION Aug. 20, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 4.

Filed Aug. 1, 1960 v ATTORNEYS.

Aug. 20, 1963 M. 1.. PUGH REFRIGERATOR CONSTRUCTION 5 Sheets-Sheet 5Filed Aug. 1, 1960 ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,101,227 REFRIGERATOR CONSTRUQ'JTION Merlin L.Pugh, Minneapolis, Minn., assignor, by ruesne assignments, to @tudebakerCorporation, South Bend, lind., a corporation of Michigan Filed Aug. 1,191%, Ser. No. 46,793 4 Claims. (Cl. 31230t)) This invention relates toa centrally pivoted or revolving door structure particularly adapted forrefrigerators, freezers, combination refrigerator-freezer units,commercial type reach-in or display cases and the like, but can also beadapted to ovens (built-in or as part of a range), dish Washers,commercial vegetable display racks and the like.

One object of the invention is to provide a refrigerator or cabinetconstruction featuring a pivoted, flush type door capable of opening orclosing either right-hand or left-hand, the pivot being near the centerof the door so that only one half normal door swing is required in frontof the cabinet when the door is fully open.

Another object is to provide the door with shelves, baskets, trays orother article retainers attached to itso that the door when opened fromeither side will provide a maximum of accessibility to the contents ofsuch shelves, baskets, trays or the like.

Still another object is to provide a refrigerator constructionwhichpresents maximum safety from the childentrapment standpoint, thecenter-pivoted door being capable of ready opening from within therefrigerator when either side of the door is pressed against.

A further object is to provide a cabinet with one or more doors whichwill be able to be opened from either side, will be able to make acomplete revolution through the cabinet turning either clockwise orcounter clockwise, and will be able to be stopped at any desiredposition of revolution.

Still a further object is to provide at least some of the shelves,baskets, trays or other article retainers pivoted to the door so thatthey can be swung to more greatly extended positions with respect to thecabinet when the door is open for still greater accessibility,particularly where a basket or the like is mounted directly beneath ashelf, and may be removed for display purposes when the device is acommercial refrigerator or the like.

An additional object is to provide areas in the. rear corners of thecabinet which may be used for egg baskets, corner shelves, butter andcheese keepers, juice racks, ice cube trays and/or keepers and the like.

Another additional object is a design which permits ready access to suchcorner shelves. 7

Still another additional object is a design which requires less room infront of the cabinetbecause the door has an effective width of onlyone-half which lends well to powerizing the door because it is wellbalanced and there is less overhang thus reducing pivot friction.

A further additional object is to provide a refrigerator constructionthat lends itself well to a combination of sheet metal and plasticconstruction for the door yet rugged construction for the door pivot anda rugged door hid-1,227 Patented Aug. 20, 1963 "Ice 2 door bracesbetween upper and lower bearings in the cabinet, then extension to finalposition where they are locked.

A further additional object is to provide a gasket carried by thecabinet and surrounding the door, the gasket so coaoting with top,bottom, and side edges thereof as 'to permit the door to be swung ineither direction from corner of baskets, trays or other articleretainers on the door so they can be swung from beneath shelves of thedoor, or alternately full size baskets, trays or the like connected atboth sides and thus not swingable relative to the door, and to providein a substantially rectangular cabinet, shelves of circular outline onthe door combined with triangular corner shelves permanently fixed inthe cabinet to which access may be readily gained when the door is inopen position, the right shelves when the door is swung to the right,and the left shelveswhen it is swung to the left.

' With these and other objects in view my invention consists in theconstruction arrangement and combination of the various parts of myrefrigerator construction whereby panel for the attachment of shelvesthereto supported entirely at one end of each shelf whereby the'slrelvesmay occupy a cylindrical area in the refrigerator cabinet when the dooris closed and are in position for ready access for each shelf when thedoor is reversed and the shelves project from the open door and out ofthe cabinet.

Still a further additional object is to provide a novel bearingconstruction for pivoting the doors relative to the cabinet involvingthe use of upper and lower door'braces having pivot pin retainerscarried thereby in which pivot pins are vertically adjustable to permitmounting of the the objects above contemplated are obtained ashereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims andillustrated in detail on the accompanying drawings where FIG. 1 is aperspective view of a refrigerator construction embodying my inventionand showing upper and lower doors in closed position;

FIG. 2 is another perspective view thereof but showing the doors in openposition and a crisper pan pivoted away from its door; 1 I

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view on the line'o-f 33 of FIG. 2,enlarged to show details of construction;

FIG. 4 is a similarly enlarged horizontal sectional view on the line 44of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a door panel used in any refrigeratorconstruction;

FIG. -6 is a perspective view of the parts of a door with the exceptionof the door panel, and includes the pivots for the door and three shelfcarriages;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view similar to a portion of FIG. 3 adjacent thelower left corner thereof showing a modification in which pivot pins andtheir bearings are reversed in relation to each other;

FIG. 7 is aperspective view of one corner of my refrigeratorconstruction showing particularly the novel gasket arrangement I providefor sealing the door relative to the cabinet;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a pivotable quartercyiinder crisper panfor attachment to a door of my refrigerator construction;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged vertical sectional view on the line 8 .8 of FIG. 1showing a door holding detent; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a half-cylinder basket attachable to adoor of my refrigerator construction.

On the accompanying drawings 'I have used the reference numeral 10 toindicate a sheet metal shell for the cabinet of my refrigerator and 12the liner thereof. A shell 10 and the liner 12 are spaced from eachother as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and the space is filled with suitableinsulating material 14. I may also provide a partition 16 as shown inFIG. 3 of spaced sheet metal elements and filled therebetween with theinsulating material 14'. The shell 10' and the liner 12 may be formed ofsingle or as many pieces as required. To complete the insulated cabinetthus far described the front thereof between the shell 10 and the liner12 (FIG. 3) is closed by a sheet metal channel frame 18, breaker 26 ofMasonite or the like and a metal trim frame 22.

A pair of doors indicated generally at D and D are provided. Each doorcomprises an outer door shell of sheet metal indicated at 24, a doorpanel 26 inside, molded of plastic material, and a door-reinforcingframe .28 of heavier sheet metal. 26 suitable insulating material 30such as foamed plastic is provided. The reinforcing frame 28 is spotwelded or otherwise suitably secured to the door shelf 24- and theperipheral edge of the door panel 26 is snapped into a channel shapedperipheral flange 2% of the frame 28;

For supporting each door relative to the cabinet 1' provide flangedbearing sockets 34 at the top and bottom of each door and secured byscrews 35 and bolts 36 tothe cabinet as shown in FIG. 3, spacers 38being provided between'the bottom shell lit-and the liner 12 and betweenthe upper and lower sheet metal parts of the partition 16 to preventtheir collapse when the bolts are tightened.

A pair of door braces and pivot pin retainers 4-6 formed of sheet metalare provided and secured by screws 37 to spacers '41 secured to the doorreinforcing frame 28. The members 40 have U-shaped central portions inwhich pivot pin sleeves 42 are secured by welding or the like. Screwthreadedly mounted in each sleeve 42 is a pivot pin 44 adapted for itsouter end to enter the sockets of the bearings 34 as shown in FIG. 3.

During assembly the pivot pins 44- may first be threaded farther intotheir sleeves 42 than illustrated in FIG. 3, so that the-distancebetween the outer ends of the pivot pinson the door is less than thedistance between the facing ends of the bearings 34 whereby the door maybe positioned with its pivot pins in alignment with the bearings. Thepivot pins 44 may then be unscrewed with respect to their sleeves 42 andenter the bearings 34, and the lower pivot pin adjusted in its bearingwith respect to a thrust washer 46 so that the door is at the propervertical position for coactio-n with a door gasket G. Therenpon thepivot pins may be locked in their sleeves 42 by means of set screws 50.

The door panels 26-have pivot covering extensions 27 to substantiallyenclose the pivots and the portions of the brackets 40 that extend fromthe back of the door as is obvious in FIG. 3. With respect to the doorpivots, FIG. 6 shows a reversal of the parts wherein pivot pins 44 arescrew-threadedly mounted in pivot pin sleeves 42 but in this case thesleeves are flanged and stationarily mounted whereas bearing sockets 34are secured to the door brake braces 40 instead of the pivot pin sleevesbeing secured thereto. The thrust bearing 46 48 would then be located atthe upper end of the pivot pin 44 which is-at the bottom end of the doorinstead of at its lower end as in FIG. 3. The set screws would then belocated in the stationary pivot pin sleeves 42 instead of those carriedby the door as in FIG. 3. Either the arrangement of FIG. 3 or that ofFIG. 6 would serve the same purpose and function in the same way as faras assembly of the door in the cabinet is concerned.

Referring to FIG. 8 a detent means is shown for normally holding thedoor in the closed position. This may consist of a detent ball 86carried by a detent bracket 96 secured to the cabinet and biased towardthe door by a spring 92. The door shell 24 is provided with a detentball seat 88 to cooperate therewith in the closed position of the door.Obviously the portion of the door shown in FIG. 8 can be forced withslight pressure toward the right or toward the left for releasing thedetent whereupon the door may be readily swung to any desired degree ofopening.

To seal the doors D and D in their respective door- Between the shell 24and the panel 4 ways, gaskets G are provided, the cross section andshape thereof being best shown in FIG. 7 and the gasket being made ofpolyvinyl chloride or similar resilient material. The gasket has a baseportion 52 from which projects two door engaging flanges 5-4, ahorizontal flange 56 and a vertical flange 58 terminating in a hookededge 60 to coact with a flange 12 of the liner 12 or a flange 16 of thepartition 16 as shown in FIG. 3. The gasket G is molded in strips andmitered at the corners as illustrated at 59 in FIG. 7. The two flanges54 will swing in either direction depending on the direction of rotationof the door, and are thus effective as a seal in the closed position ofthe door as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 regardless of which way, the doorcloses. While I have shown the gasket G carried by the cabinet to coactwith the edges of the door, the gasket arrangement may be reversed andcarried by the edge of the door to coact with the cabinet.

Half-circle (actually somewhat more than 180 shelf carriages 62 areprovided in the form of steel straps welded and/or riveted together andhaving attaching feet 64 secured to spacers 65 of the door reinforcingframe 28 by screws 63. A shelf cover plate 66 of plastic rests on eachshelf carriage 62 and thus the shelves 6266 are supported on the doorfor movement therewith as to the open position illustrated in FIG. 2where the contents thereon are readily accessible.

The doors D and D have U-shaped pivot brackets 68 perforated adjacenttheir ends and secured to'the doors by screws 67 and spacers 69 forcrisper pans, baskets or other article retainers. By way of example Ishow in FIG. 8 a quarter-cylinder crisper pan having a pivot bracket 7 2on one corner thereof provided with pivot studs that serve as a hangerfor the pan. These studs enter the perforations in the ends of the pivotbracket 68 as shown in FIG. 3, so that the crisper pan, normally coveredby the lower shelf of the door D as shown in FIG; 2, may be swungoutwardly as indicated by the arrow 71 to readily gain access theretowithout interference by the shelf 66.

FIG. 2 also shows a pair of quarter-cylinder baskets 76 similarlypivoted so they may be individually swung outwardly with respect to thedoor D to gain access to another basket 86 there below. The basket 80 isa halfcylinder basket shown in detail in FIG. 9 and provided at each ofits ends with a hanger stud 82 to coact with two of the pivot brackets68 at opposite sides of the door D for non-swinging mounting on thedoor. The basket 80 is provided with a pivot clearance socket 81 toclear the pivot covering extension 27 of the door panel 26; Likewise thecrisper pan 70 as shown in FIG. 8 is provided with a depressed portion73 for the same purpose.

Referring to FIG. 4 it will be noted that the door D closes the openside of a'substantially rectangular cabinet, and its vertical edgeindicated at 25 is a section of a cylinder having its center at thepivot center of the door for most effective coactiou with the gasket G.The shelves 66, the pans '76 and the baskets 76 and 80 have their innerwalls substantially cylindrical about the pivot axes for properclearance in all positions of opening of the door. Thus there are vacantcorners'in the rectangular cabinet suitable for triangular cornershelves 84 which are mounted therein as'shown in FIGS. 2 and 4.

Referring to FIG. 2 it is obvious how all shelves, pans and basketscarried by the doors D and D are readily accessible when the door isopen. At such time the corner shelves 84 are readily accessible. Thedoor D for instance when swung to the position'shown exposes the shelves66 so they project out of the refrigerator cabinet for ready access toeach whereas access to the crisper pan that has been pivoted outwardlyis readily had and at the same time the corner shelves 84- in the leftside of the cabinet are readily accessible. The door may be swungfurther for exposing the shelves 66 and the pan 70 entirely outside ofthe refrigerator if desired whereas by swinging the door oppositely fromclosed position access is afforded to the corner shelves 84 in the righthand side of the refrigerator. As for the door D it can likewise beswung to a position to make the contents of the baskets 76 and 80readily accessible, and both of the baskets 76 may be pivoted outwardlyso that access is had to the nonpivoted basket 80 below.

From the foregoing description it will be obvious that I have provided arefrigerator construction that accompishes the objects contemplated andis a great convenience in respect to ready accessibility to all shelvesand other containers for the refrigerator while at the same time thedoor can be swung either right or left hand as desired and in its widestopen position does not project very far from the front of the cabinet,and always less than one-half the width of the door. I

While there has been shown and described a particular embodiment of myinvention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that variouschanges and modifications may be made therein without departing from thereal spirit and purpose of my invention, and therefore it is intended inthe appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fallwithin the scope of the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a refrigerator construction, a cabinet having an opening in onewall thereof, a door centrally pivoted on a vertical axis in saidopening, said axis being spaced inwardly from said door, half-circleshelves and article retainers carried by said door and movabletherewith, said door, shelves and article retainers having extremitiesformed substantially on a radius from the pivotal axis of said door,brackets for said article retainers having upper and lower perforatedears, said brackets being located adjacent the outer edges of the door,said article retainers being of quarter-cylinder shape, and'havingdownwardly extending studs to enter said perforated ears to pivot saidarticle retainers to said door adjacent the outer edges thereof, saidarticle retainers being swingable to extended positions relative to saiddoor in its open position, the spacing of said axis inwardly of saiddoor being such that said shelves project substantially halfway fromsaid cabinet when said door is open.

2. in a refrigerator construction, a cabinet having an opening in onewall thereof, a door centrally pivoted on a vertical axis in saidopening, shelves and article retainers carried by said door and movabletherewith, said door, shelves and article retainers having extremitiesformed substantially on a radius from the pivotal axis of said door, atleast some of said article retainers being of quarter-cylinder shape,pivoted to said door adjacent the outer edges thereof and swingable toextended positions relative to said door in its open position, pivotbrackets on said door to support said article retainers, said articleretainers having hanger studs projecting therefrom to pivotally coactwith said pivot brackets, one of said article retainers beinghalf-cylindrical in shape and provided with two sets of hanger studs tocoact with two of said pivot brackets and being thereby supported onsaid door against pivotal relationship thereto.

3. In a refrigerator construction, a five-walled rectangular cabinet, anopenable door centrally pivoted on a vertical axis and forming the sixthwall thereof, said axis being inward of said door whereby the door issubstantially halfway in said cabinet when opened shelves and articleretainers carried by said door and movable therewith, said door, shelvesand article retainers having extremities formed substantially on aradius from the pivotal axis of said door, at least some of said articleretainers being of quarter-cylinder shape, pivoted to said door adjacentthe outer edges thereof and swingable to extended positions relative tosaid door in its open position and from under said shelves for access toarticles therein, U-shaped pivot brackets on said door having perforatedears to support said article retainers, said article retainers havinghanger studs projecting downwardly therefrom to pivotally coact withsaid perforated ears of said pivot brackets.

4. A refrigerator construction comprising a cabinet having an opening inone wall thereof, a door in said opening, door brackets attached to saiddoor adjacent the upper and lower ends thereof and having pivot pinextensions inwardly from said door, pivot pins pivoted in the inner endsof said extensions and carried by said cabinet, and shelves and articleretainers carried by said door and movable therewith, said door, shelvesand article retainers having extremities formed substantially on aradius from the pivotal axis, two of said article retainers being ofquarter-cylinder shape, being covered by one of said shelves and pivotedto said door adjacent the outer edges thereof to swing to extendedposition from under said one of said shelves to gain access to articlestherein.

' References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D.157,362 Francis Feb. 21, 1950 1,024,366 Schiefer Apr. 23, 1912 1,666,646Gomrne Apr. 17, 1928 1,575,807 Mack May 6, 1930 2,414,929 Civkin Ian.28, 1947 2,859,081 Welch c- Nov. 4, 1958 2,877,077 Robinson Mar. 10,1959 2,905,518 =Doesken Sept. 22, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 437,310 FranceFeb. 14, 1912 482,569 Canada Apr. 15, 1952

1. IN A REFRIGERATOR CONSTRUCTION, A CABINET HAVING AN OPENING IN ONEWALL THEREOF, A DOOR CENTRALLY PIVOTED ON A VERTICAL AXIS IN SAIDOPENING, SAID AXIS BEING SPACED INWARDLY FROM SAID DOOR, HALF-CIRCLESHELVES AND ARTICLE RETAINERS CARRIED BY SAID DOOR AND MOVABLETHEREWITH, SAID DOOR, SHELVES AND ARTICLE RETAINERS HAVING EXTREMITIESFORMED SUBSTANTIALLY ON A RADIUS FROM THE PIVOTAL AXIS OF SAID DOOR,BRACKETS FOR SAID ARTICLE RETAINERS HAVING UPPER AND LOWER PERFORATEDEARS, SAID BRACKETS BEING LOCATED ADJACENT THE OUTER EDGES OF THE DOOR,SAID ARTICLE RETAINERS BEING OF QUATER-CYLINDER SHAPE, AND HAVINGDOWNWARDLY EXTENDING STUDS TO ENTER SAID PERFORATED EARS TO PIVOT SAIDARTICLE RETAINERS TO SAID DOOR ADJACENT THE OUTER EDGES THEREOF, SAIDARTICLE RETAINERS BEING SWINGABLE TO EXTENDED POSITIONS RELATIVE TO SAIDDOOR IN ITS OPEN POSITION, THE SPACING OF SAID AXIS INWARDLY OF SAIDDOOR BEING SUCH THAT SAID SHELVES PROJECT SUBSTANTIALLY HALFWAY FROMSAID CA